Gryffindor Courage
by lemmonbomb
Summary: As the full moon approaches, Remus Lupin is suffering from nightmares - all he can think about is the night he got bitten. Luckily, his best friends the Marauders are there to help him find his Gryffindor Courage! Apparently, mild sb/rl if you squint.


**Disclaimer: I own a hilarious photo of me and my best friends on The Flume at Alton Towers, but sadly, the wonderful world of Harry Potter and all his mates belongs to JK.**

***Hey every one, thanks for clicking to read my fanfic! I hope you enjoy it – if you do, please feel free to clickety-click again to review :) Oh, and just a little note – it's not how I intended it to turn out, but according to one of my friends, the end can be interpreted as mild slash between Sirius and Remus. So I guess, if you want to, you can read it that way, but note that that wasn't how I wrote it, so it can be easily ignored, I think.***

"Is Remus asleep?" said Sirius, as he stalked into the dorm. It was almost midnight.

"Yeah, why?" James replied, not looking up from his Quidditch magazine.

"Because I haven't done that Defensive Magic essay and he's bound to have finished it weeks ago. I need to copy it or Professor Lockerton'll kill me."

"_Moony_'ll kill you if he knows you've been at his homework. You know what he's like just before the full moon."

"Yeah well, he'll only find out if you and Peter tell him, won't he?" said Sirius, as he rummaged through Remus' bag, looking for the essay. "Oh Merlin's arse! He's already handed it in!"

"You can copy mine if you want," said Peter, peeking out from his four poster's hangings.

"Err..." Sirius hesitated, sharing a brief look with James. Peter wasn't known for being particularly good at Defence against the Dark Arts. Peter sighed, but didn't show the slight hurt that he felt.

"It's OK, I copied it off Remus."

"Yes! Wormtail, you're amazing!" the feeling of hurt washed away instantly, Peter laughed as Sirius leapt onto his bag and dug inside it for the essay. "Tell you what we could do with. A midnight feast while I do this stupid essay."

"I'll second that!" James flung down his magazine and bounced up from his bed.

"I'll come too!" Peter shoved his feet into his slippers. "But what about Moony?"

"Leave him, Peter, he needs to sleep, especially before tomorrow night. He can join in if he wakes up later anyway." James warned, as Peter approached the bed where Remus, looking pale and sickly, was lying deep in sleep after hours of fidgety restlessness.

"Alright then." The three fumbled with James' cloak, disappeared under it and headed laughing out of the dorm. "He looks happy enough as he is, I guess."

Little did they know, as they quietly shut the dorm door behind them, that their friend was far from happy.

_It's dark. Really dark, except for the glowing full moon in the sky. It's ok...I like the dark, and the moon. It's cool, and mysterious. And it's peaceful. The moon always guides me the way home. It's like one of my best friends. I don't have very many friends, because we live out in the country. Sometimes I play with the big boys and the little girl from the other side of the brook, but not always. The big boys tease me some days because I have a funny name, but I don't care because I like my name. _

_Mummy might be cross if she knows I'm out here on a walk at this time of night but Daddy won't mind. He likes to go out at night too, sometimes. We used to go together, but he's stopped recently because..._

_And now I'm shivering because Daddy told me to definitely not go out for a walk in the woods at night tonight. Or ever, until it was safe again. Daddy said that the woods were dangerous. I thought it was funny because he'd never said that before, but ever since he had that argument with that big tall man with long hair and scars...Mr Greyback I think his name was...he's been all jumpy and worried. _

_It's cold. But I'm OK. I just have to walk home, very sensibly, like crossing the muggle road by myself. The woods aren't dangerous unless you make them. And I'll be safe and I'll promise to never go out into the woods alone again. I didn't mean to forget._

_And then there's a snap of a twig behind me and everything goes from cold to freezing. And I can hear something breathing heavily and it's not me. Suddenly the woods look very big around me and the trees look scary. I can't remember the way out. My hand darts inside my pocket because there's a handkerchief Mummy made me put there. It's soft in my hand and a comfort. I think I can remember the way out, but I can't move. My feet are stuck to the floor._

_I want to go home. I want my Mummy and Daddy._

_And another twig has just snapped and I can still hear the breathing. "H-hello?" I call, and I tried to sound brave but I didn't because I'm frightened._

_And then there's a snarl and the bushes shake. I can see a huge pair of gleaming yellow eyes glaring at me._

_And suddenly I'm screaming and running. I'm running faster than I've ever run in my life. I don't even know where I'm going because it's too dark to see but I just want Mummy and Daddy. _

_I can hear a great big monster chasing and chasing me. He's growling and he won't stop because he's going to get me and I don't know what to do. _

_Stumble. Yelp. Trip._

_I've fallen over a big tree root. My knee is grazed and it hurts but I can't even feel it properly because there's a great...big...wolf..._

_I'm a big boy...I'm nearly seven...and I'm not meant to cry but I can't help it. He's huge and growling and frothing at the mouth. I'm crying out for Mummy and Daddy to come and get me but nobody's coming. I'm screaming and sobbing but it only seems to come out as a whimper. The handkerchief clenched in my fist is sweaty and grimy._

_He's hunched over and is creeping towards me, staring at me right in the eyes._

"_L-l-leave me alone..."_

_He snarls loudly, baring his sharp teeth._

"_Mummy! DADDY! Help me!"_

_And then he stands back on his hind legs and stretches up to the full moon. And he howls._

_I've never heard anything so loud, or piercing, or scary. _

_He's running at me, growling and his jaws are wide open and I cower into the ground shaking and – and - _

"Moony? MOONY? Remus, please, wake up!"

Remus awoke abruptly with a strangled gasp. His bed sheets were sweaty and tangled where he'd thrashed about in his sleep and his face was deathly pale and looked deeply afraid. His hair was messy from tossing and turning, and he was conscious of the fact that there were tears streaming down his face. He felt small and wretched, and his collarbone ached where he had once, many years ago, received a bite from a werewolf.

"Moony? Are you alright?"

"What kind of nightmare was that?"

The three boys stared in concern at their shaking friend.

"I'm – I mean – I – it was –"

"Was it the night you got...you know...bitten?" Sirius stared at his friend. Remus bowed his head down in shame and nodded, rubbing the tears and sweat from his face furiously.

"How did you know?"

"You were...saying things." said Sirius, looking at his feet. "And I've heard you having dreams like that before from my bed only...only not as bad..."

"Oh." Remus flopped back against his headboard. He felt tired and used, though the blood thick with adrenalin and fear still coursed through him, visible as it pulsed through his neck. His friends could see his scrawny chest rising and falling under his T-shirt with each breath as his heart pumped, terrified, beneath it.

"Listen, mate. It's OK, we don't mind. You shouldn't be embarrassed. It's hardly the stuff of pleasant dreams, is it? It's only natural." James put his hand on Remus' shoulder, only to recoil slightly when he flinched at his touch.

"Sorry...s'just near where I got bitten. Sensitive, you know?" Remus shrugged, trying to make out that it was a casual affair.

"We only noticed because we were having a midnight feast anyway. We wouldn't have heard a thing otherwise." said Peter, reassuringly. Remus half smiled.

"Have a Chocolate Frog, Moony. You'll feel better." Sirius chucked him a frog, which he caught and nibbled on.

A few hours later, the four friends had shared a midnight feast and plenty of fun and ridiculous jokes, and were now, only at 2 in the morning, beginning to quieten down. Remus had fallen asleep, slumped against the wall. His friends quietly levitated him into bed, before shoving the food remains and empty Butterbeer bottles out of sight, and getting into bed themselves.

Soon, only the rhythmic ticking of the clock, James' slow breathing and Peter's snoring could be heard. It drove the restless Sirius crazy. He hissed "Cut it out, Wormtail!" but Peter didn't hear. Sighing, he reached out of his warm bed and found his wand, casting a silencing charm on Peter. _Sorted_, he thought, as he buried back down under the sheets.

"No..."

Sirius sighed. What now?

"No...please...leave me alone..."

Oh. It was Remus again. His frustration dissolved as the feeling of great pity washed over him. He, along with James and Peter, all wished they could do something to help his dreams, but sadly, there really was nothing. Even helping him out of his dreams when he was a wolf was hard enough – it was now their fourth year at Hogwarts and they still hadn't quite figured out how to become Animagi.

"Please don't...please don't...no, no, no!"

Sirius leapt out of bed, ready to wake his friend from the nightmare he could scarcely imagine.

"Don't..." and then Remus began to moan into his pillow as he shook. It seemed to Sirius that the moan was merely the echo of the scream that resonated in Remus' memory. He began to stride over to Remus' bed, ready to wrench open the hangings and wake his friend, but suddenly the moaning stopped.

On the other side of the hangings, Remus had awoken with a start. He hated those dreams more than he could ever tell his friends. They had all been so nice to him earlier...he had almost completely forgotten the dream and had had fun with his friends. He thumped his pillow angrily and muttered to himself "Shut up Remus. S' just a dream." He forced himself to think of all his happy, Marauder memories, and turned over to sleep.

Sirius smiled to himself. _Now that's Gryffindor courage_ he thought, before creeping back into bed.


End file.
